[AWIPS #SGH-128021]: Questions regarding AWIPS II system requirements and installation

> Good morning,
> 
> A researcher here, at the University of Denver, has asked for assistance
> with a grant proposal to bring AWIPS II to our campus.
> 
> I have some questions, based on what I have read on your website:

Hi Ben,

Thanks for writing.  I noticed that you posted links to the NWS AWIPS II 
documents that are hosted on our site.  I should probably have written more on 
the documentation page about the difference between Unidata AWIPS II and NWS 
AWIPS II.

NWS AWIPS II is the full suite of AWIPS II application intended to be run 
operationally at WFOs.  There is a lot of redundancy in the system, and 
resources are distributed among a number of servers in order to support 
operational use. 

Unidata AWIPS II is a smaller suite of applications intended to the run 
non-operationally by individuals and universities.  It is designed to be 
installed on a single standalone server and provide data to remote CAVE clients.


> -Per 
> http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/awips2/doc/AWIPS_II_Installation.pdf,
> page 34, the footnote reads "Until further notice, Raytheon will perform the
> steps in Section 4, 'System Installation.'" Does this mean that Raytheon will
> need to install AWIPS II ?

No, Raytheon is not involved in the installation of AWIPS II outside of NWS 
use.  This sentence comes from the documentation provided to NWS by Raytehon 
for NWS AWIPS II.  I host this and other NWS AWIPS II document on out website 
for completeness, for users of Unidata AWIPS II to reference if need be.


> -Per http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/awips2/doc/AWIPS_II_Installation.pdf
> page 35, table 4-1, it mentions 8 separate server names for the installation:
> DX1, DX2, DX3, DX4, PX1, PX2, CPSBN1, CPSBN2 . Does this mean that in order
> to install AWIPS II for development purposes, we would need to have an 8 node
> cluster?

Nope, that's only for operational use.



> -If Raytheon does not have to install AWIPS II and there is not a need to have
> an 8 node cluster, would it be possible to create a deployment with three
> servers (data storage, processing, web server)?
> 
> -AWIPS II looks like it has three components: EDEX Server, Local Data Manager,
> and THREDDS Data Server. Are those the only components? If yes, are all
> three are required for a successful installation of AWIPS II? IF EDEX Server,
> Local Data Manager, and THREDDS Data Server aren't the only components,
> what are the other components needed for the installation of AWIPS II?

The THREDDs data server is *not* an AWIPS II component.  I'm not sure where you 
heard such a thing, if it's from one of our documents please point me to it so 
I can make that fix.  AWIPS II has two major components: the EDEX Data Server 
and the CAVE client.  The LDM is one part of the AWIPS II system, as is 
PostgreSQL, HDF5, Python, etc.

> -If we are chosen to be an AWIPS II site, even for development, do we need
> to sign an agreement for using it, and do we have a responsibility to alway
> s be connected to the AWIPS Communication Network?


Not at all!  To join our beta test program we only ask that you provide us 
regular feedback on the installation and performance of your machines.  You 
don't need have an EDEX server up and running continuously, or be connected to 
us, really the only requirement is "kick the tires" on the system, same as we 
do, so we can better prepare everybody for the first official release.


> Thank you for your time!
> 
> --
> Ben Fotovich
> Senior Research Support Specialist
> Emerging Technologies and Research Support
> University of Denver
> 303.871.4413

Thanks for writing, Ben, and if you have any follow up questions or if anything 
needs clarification, don't hesitate to write back.

Michael James
Unidata



Ticket Details
===================
Ticket ID: SGH-128021
Department: Support AWIPS
Priority: Normal
Status: Open